03-07-2010, 11:00 PM
When Petrovich was placed on administrative duty, police Sgt. James O’Brien also was placed on administrative duty pending the federal investigation. Whether he cooperated and was not charged was not immediately available. Petrovich resigned Nov. 5 and O'Brien remains on administrative duty, according to department spokeswoman Connie Barron.
Both men were foreclosed on three times and both filed for bankruptcy. Petrovich, an officer for 11 years, earned $64,084, while O’Brien, an 11-year veteran, earns $68,244.
Attorney Charles Harris of Fort Myers, who represents Petrovich, could not be reached for comment today.
At a press conference, Chief Petrovich called his son’s plea difficult and noted he was off duty when the crimes occurred. “We’re accountable for what we do and that applies to everybody,” Petrovich said.
Petrovich and Ryan O’Brien were managers of Four Forty Two Holdings LLC. Petrovich was a member of Noah Enterprises, along with his wife. Forrey and Reese formed Franklin, Morgan and Chase Inc., a brokerage firm, to invest in real estate and flip properties.
Forrey and Reese managed New Cape Holdings LLC, while Forrey was president of Douglas Holdings and Development Inc. Bossert incorporated Helios Financial Center Inc., which did business as Statewide Investments and Realty, and signed checks for ACI Holdings LLC. All were based in Cape Coral.
Three Lee County attorneys and others in law enforcement are being investigated as part of the federal Mortgage Fraud Surge investigation and prosecution, called the Mortgage Fraud Initiative. More than 100 people have been charged statewide, including more than three dozen in the Middle District, which includes Collier and Lee counties. Prosecutors say they are continuing to investigate in Phase II.
The plea agreements and informations say the defendants operated a “cash-out” mortgage fraud conspiracy in Cape Coral between 2007 and 2008, when they provided inflated sales prices to lenders and falsified applications for loans based on the higher prices, then pocketed the excess loan proceeds at closings.
Court documents give this account:
Taking advantage of the downturn in the housing market, when sellers were desperate to contract on their properties, they targeted “for sale by owner” homes, offering to pay sellers asking price and often telling sellers the final paperwork would show a higher amount so the buyers could use the excess cash to pay for “future improvements.”
The defendants then used third-party buyers to obtain loans based on inflated sales prices, falsifying loan qualification information and creating fictitious cashier’s checks, bank statements, W-2s, and other documents to support the loan applications.
They obtained loans from various lenders for amounts far exceeding the homes’ sales prices. At closings, they had the excess loan funds — usually more than $100,000 — wired to the corporations they controlled, showing the funds as payoffs for “existing liabilities” on HUD statements.
At one point, they simply began creating two HUD statements, one to use at closing that showed the real price of the home and one to submit to the lender afterward, showing the false price the loan was based on. They divided the excess loan funds among themselves.
“None of the money was used for home repairs or improvements,” the information says. “In fact, the majority of the buyers never intended to keep the house. Once the buyers received ‘cash-out’ payments from the real estate purchase transaction, the buyers made approximately three mortgage payments ... and then stopped making payments and would let the homes foreclose.”
As a result, the defendants obtained more than $4.2 million in loans on eight properties in the Cape Coral area.
In one deal, the sellers sold for $355,000, and the conspirators submitted a second HUD statement showing a $725,000 sales price. From that, they received more than $178,000 in cash, which Petrovich and O’Brien split, purchasing a cashier’s check payable to O’Brien for $39,200 and then slowly withdrawing the rest of the money from a holdings account in amounts less than $10,000.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the IRS and FBI as part of a joint effort with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/mar/03/cape-coral-police-chiefs-son-police-sergeant-three/
So, let me get this straight. P-boy was only a criminal on his off time right?
Both men were foreclosed on three times and both filed for bankruptcy. Petrovich, an officer for 11 years, earned $64,084, while O’Brien, an 11-year veteran, earns $68,244.
Attorney Charles Harris of Fort Myers, who represents Petrovich, could not be reached for comment today.
At a press conference, Chief Petrovich called his son’s plea difficult and noted he was off duty when the crimes occurred. “We’re accountable for what we do and that applies to everybody,” Petrovich said.
Petrovich and Ryan O’Brien were managers of Four Forty Two Holdings LLC. Petrovich was a member of Noah Enterprises, along with his wife. Forrey and Reese formed Franklin, Morgan and Chase Inc., a brokerage firm, to invest in real estate and flip properties.
Forrey and Reese managed New Cape Holdings LLC, while Forrey was president of Douglas Holdings and Development Inc. Bossert incorporated Helios Financial Center Inc., which did business as Statewide Investments and Realty, and signed checks for ACI Holdings LLC. All were based in Cape Coral.
Three Lee County attorneys and others in law enforcement are being investigated as part of the federal Mortgage Fraud Surge investigation and prosecution, called the Mortgage Fraud Initiative. More than 100 people have been charged statewide, including more than three dozen in the Middle District, which includes Collier and Lee counties. Prosecutors say they are continuing to investigate in Phase II.
The plea agreements and informations say the defendants operated a “cash-out” mortgage fraud conspiracy in Cape Coral between 2007 and 2008, when they provided inflated sales prices to lenders and falsified applications for loans based on the higher prices, then pocketed the excess loan proceeds at closings.
Court documents give this account:
Taking advantage of the downturn in the housing market, when sellers were desperate to contract on their properties, they targeted “for sale by owner” homes, offering to pay sellers asking price and often telling sellers the final paperwork would show a higher amount so the buyers could use the excess cash to pay for “future improvements.”
The defendants then used third-party buyers to obtain loans based on inflated sales prices, falsifying loan qualification information and creating fictitious cashier’s checks, bank statements, W-2s, and other documents to support the loan applications.
They obtained loans from various lenders for amounts far exceeding the homes’ sales prices. At closings, they had the excess loan funds — usually more than $100,000 — wired to the corporations they controlled, showing the funds as payoffs for “existing liabilities” on HUD statements.
At one point, they simply began creating two HUD statements, one to use at closing that showed the real price of the home and one to submit to the lender afterward, showing the false price the loan was based on. They divided the excess loan funds among themselves.
“None of the money was used for home repairs or improvements,” the information says. “In fact, the majority of the buyers never intended to keep the house. Once the buyers received ‘cash-out’ payments from the real estate purchase transaction, the buyers made approximately three mortgage payments ... and then stopped making payments and would let the homes foreclose.”
As a result, the defendants obtained more than $4.2 million in loans on eight properties in the Cape Coral area.
In one deal, the sellers sold for $355,000, and the conspirators submitted a second HUD statement showing a $725,000 sales price. From that, they received more than $178,000 in cash, which Petrovich and O’Brien split, purchasing a cashier’s check payable to O’Brien for $39,200 and then slowly withdrawing the rest of the money from a holdings account in amounts less than $10,000.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the IRS and FBI as part of a joint effort with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/mar/03/cape-coral-police-chiefs-son-police-sergeant-three/
So, let me get this straight. P-boy was only a criminal on his off time right?